L-R: Mr. Ayotunde Coker, CEO, Open Access Data Centres; Mr. John Obaro, Founder, SystemSpecs Limited, and recipient of the “Special Lifetime Achievement Awards”; Mrs. Adunola Akinyemiju, President, Dansol Christian Mission; Mr. Oluwakayode Adigun, Vice President, First City Monument Bank; and Mrs. Abiola Laseinde, Convener, The Chief Information Officer (CIO) Awards, at the CIO Awards held at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Mr. John Tani Obaro, a well-respected leader in the global financial technology space and the Group Managing Director (GMD), SystemSpecs Holdings, was bestowed the “Lifetime Achievement Special Award” at the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Awards for his decades of outstanding stewardship and selfless contribution to the development of ICT space in Africa. The event was held on Saturday, November 26, 2022, at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
This follows a similar development two weeks prior, when Mr Obaro also received a “Special Recognition Award” at the Nigeria Fintech Awards for his pioneering leadership in the development of the fintech ecosystem in Nigeria.
A distinguished alumnus of the Ahmadu Bello University, University of Lagos, and the Chief Executive Program (CEP3) of Lagos Business School, John Obaro founded Systemspecs Limited 30 years ago. In the last decade, SystemSpecs has become a trailblazer in the Nigerian e-Payment space with its Remita solution, which enables efficient and easy payments and collections of funds for Individuals and corporates. Other leading solutions from SystemSpecs include HumanManager, an indigenous HR management and payroll solution, and FundACause, a solution developed to address the unique challenges of raising funds, amongst others.
In expressing his appreciation to the organisers of the awards, Mr Obaro said: “My heartfelt gratitude goes to the organisers of the CIO Awards for the Lifetime Achievement Special Award. I am excited to see that our work is appreciated. Three decades ago, we started SystemSpecs with the vision of being the software institution of reference in Africa, and so far, the journey has been fruitful. In collaborating with other stakeholders in the industry, we have been able to accelerate our output and increase our value to customers by offering them simplified and innovative software solutions. Be assured that we will not rest on our oars.”
Obaro is a fellow of the Centre for African Policy Development and Research, Glasgow, Scotland; a fellow of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS); an ex-member of the Governing Council of Computers Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria (CPN) – the highest industry practice regulatory body; and past 1st Vice President of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON).
Known in many circles as ‘The Consummate Innovator’, John Obaro has previously been recognised with the honour of Leadership in Technology at the 2016 African Achievement Awards in Scotland; Nigeria’s IT Personality of the Year; Software Personality of the Year at the Nigeria Communication Week’s Beacon of Information and Communications Technology (BoICT) Awards; Engineer Simeon Agu Prize for Best Software Entrepreneur at the National Information Technology Merit Award (NITMA); in addition to other numerous indigenous and international awards over the years.
